Apps, Cats and Digital Displays: Five Fan-Funded Projects

It was a big week for the arts in crowdfunding: A digital screen designed to display art made waves online, while an animation company surpassed $100,000 in the first seven days of its campaign. For the second installment of our new weekly feature on the most exciting projects in crowdfunding, we’re highlighting work by everyone from a Hollywood character actor to the makers of a viral cat cartoon. Read about this week’s picks:

Random Bench

Doghouse

The short film “Doghouse” is about a son held captive by his dying, psychotic mother, his estranged sister and the tragedy that brings them back together – or it will be, if it reaches its goal amount on crowdfunding platform Rocket Hub.

The “Doghouse” cast and crew are not amateurs, like those of many crowdfunded films. They’re industry professionals – people you might not know by name but could recognize by work. The star and leader of the project is actor Michael Maize, who’s appeared in a host of television shows and movies including “True Blood,” “Saving Lincoln,” “Castle” and “National Treasure: Book of Secrets.”

“The challenge as a character actor is you’re not getting work all the time,” Maize said. “This year I made a goal that I wanted to take my career into my own hands.”

The cast, crew, and even the people behind Rocket Hub are all members of a real social network who’ve banded together to make “Doghouse.” The scriptwriter, Gina Lucita Monreal, who’s written for “NCIS” and “Brothers & Sisters,” is a college friend of Maize. Erin Daniels, the female lead, has known executive producer Adrian Salpeter, of small film company Random Bench, for years. Rocket Hub co-founder Jed Cohen is married to another of Maize’s friends from school. And Polish director Borys Lankosz, whose “The Reverse” was Poland’s entry for best foreign language film at the 2009 Academy Awards, has been in touch with Maize and Salpeter for years.

And the financial backers, of course, are friends, family members and fans.

As more filmmakers with Hollywood experience are turning to crowdfunding to finance their work, a question arises as to whether established industry members are as deserving of funds as those who lack access to big studio backing, Salpeter said. But he added the audience gets to choose, saying, “It’s actually democratizing art and the process of making art.”

The pitch: There’s no video, which is especially surprising for a film pitch. But you can follow a link to Maize’s demo reel to see him in action.

Perk: For a $150 pledge, you will receive two tickets to the premiere, a copy of the DVD and a “special thanks” credit in the film.

The animation shorts team that brought you that very popular hungry-cat-tortures-sleeping-owner-for-food video wants to break new ground with an ambitious piece titled “Off to the Vet.” Simon’s Cat has over 3 million YouTube channel subscribers and “Cat Man Do,” the short about the hungry cat, has accumulated nearly 50 million views. It takes the creators months to make a two-to-three minute video, because each story is animated by hand, according to the Indiegogo pitch. “Off to the Vet” will be over 10 minutes long and include a first for the group: color.

The pitch: You probably have to like cats to care a lot about Simon’s Cat. But the vet storyline will resonate with anyone who’s ever had one as a pet.

Perk: The most exciting perk: for £500 (about $850), Simon will draw your pet. You’ll also get a signed print of the “Off to the Vet” storyboard, a Simon’s Cat T-shirt, a set of Simon’s Cat collectible cards, access to a behind-the-scenes blog and more.

There’s an app for everything, and now there will be a film for apps. “App: The Human Story,” is a documentary promising to explore the creation, use and culture of apps. Already signed on for interviews are Marco Arment, co-founder of Tumblr, John Gruber of the website Daring Fireball and software company Q-Branch, Jason Snell of Macworld, Lisa Bettany of photography app Camera+ and more.

In addition to interviewing app developers, the creators are crowdsourcing stories about how apps have touched peoples’ lives through Twitter (#thehumanstory). A year into the project, they’ve already conducted numerous interviews and collected at least enough footage to create a compelling teaser video – and now they’re asking for additional funds to keep the project on track for completion.

The pitch: If you have any interest in apps or documentaries, it’s worth checking out the teaser video – conveniently tied in with the project’s Kickstarter pitch.

Perk: For $50, pledgers will receive interviews from a single subject of their choosing, as well as a digital version of the film with commentary.

Forget snapping smartphone pictures of art in museums – soon, you may be able to admire artworks in high-definition from the comfort of your home. With EO1, a screen and integrated computer designed to display art, users can select and change images with their phones. The New York Public Library, the Museum of the Moving Image and others have already partnered with Electric Objects, the startup behind EO1, and the product has been generating considerable buzz with coverage from Wired, Business Insider, Quartz, Fast Company and more.

The pitch: While a digital display screen is not a completely novel idea, this particular version does seem very well-executed and user-friendly.

Perk: You can get your own discounted EO1 for a pledge of $299, or a beta version four months early for $499.

Film + chemicals = Flim, a project developing special modified film that will make your pictures look cooler and crazier than your favorite Instragram feed. Photographs taken with Flim are altered in color, contrast and even film speed, according to the creator, and since each batch of Flim is made slightly differently, every photo is unique.

The pitch: Flim is not for the average selfie-snapper – photos taken on Flim can turn out far-removed from the original subject.